Daisies
by aayce
Summary: Threeshot! - And she walked out of his life, and he didn't run after her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **The only thing that belongs to me is... Nicole. She's a figment of my imagination. Otherwise everything belongs to James Morrison, and Disney.  
_  
"Well I can't explain why it's not enough, Cause I gave it all to you.  
And if you leave me now, oh just leave me now.  
It's the better thing to do,  
It's time to surrender,  
It's been too long pretending.  
There's no use in trying,  
When the pieces don't fit anymore, Pieces don't fit here anymore."  
- James Morrison. "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"_

Daisies. A simple white petaled flower, clean, fresh, common and Gabriella's favorite flower. They had only become her favorite flower once Troy had began to give them to her every Friday starting the junior year they started going out. He had described that the daises represented their relationship, always fresh, simple and sweet, and since Troy was able to find daisies anywhere, his love for her would follow her anywhere she went and vice versa. And in freshmen year of college, Gabriella had traveled across the country to hand deliver Troy a single daisy on one of her very rare visits. She had not known that this would be the last daisy exchange in their relationship.

_"Gabi!" A grin automatically made its way onto Troy's face as his front door opened and his girlfriend appeared in front of him._

_Her face was tired, her hair falling out of the bun that she had just previously tied it in, the distance was taking a toll on her, and on him as well. She could tell in the tone of his voice, yes he was definitely happy to see her but, it had been five months since they'd last seen one another. Two weeks since they had last talked on the phone and had a real conversation. There were so many things happening in their lives at once that it was becoming more and more difficult to share your life with someone who was thousands and thousands of miles away. _

_She smiled weakly, dragged her feet and launched herself into his arms. Breathing in his scent, a tear nearly escaped her eyes as she reveled in how much she had missed his touch, his smell, his everything. Troy allowed them to drop to the floor together, a tangle of arms and legs in a heap on the floor. Silence filled the room, and thoughts of their straining relationship began to fill both their minds._

_"I brought you something." She whispered into his neck. Pulling back, she reached across the floor to her purse, and pulled out a single daisy from the front pocket. _

Seeing the flower in her hand, he took it from her and kissed her lips gently before brushing the flower petals across her face sweetly. She chuckled softly at his actions. Finally, after a long moment of silence had overcome them he stood up and took her hand leading her to the living room. There, they laid across the couch and drifted off to sleep. 

_The next morning Troy awoke to find Gabriella's bags at the door, and the smell of coffee making its way from the kitchen. Stretching briefly he looked over at the clock, 6:53 am. His feet padded softly against the cold floor as he walked into the kitchen, Gabriella was seated at the counter, a cup of coffee resting in between her hands. Hearing Troy's footsteps she looked up, Troy was surprised at the puffiness in her eyes, the redness in her face. She sniffled and quickly began to wipe her face with her fingers of any remaining tears. _

_"Are you leaving?" Troy asked hesitantly. She couldn't leave, she just got here._

_"Yes." _

"Why?" He asked, slightly put off by her blunt answer. 

_"I have to go back to New York Troy. I have to go back to school." Her eyes flicked quickly to his face, then back down to her coffee._

_"I know. But, I thought you were staying for a couple days." _

"I have a paper due." She said quietly. 

_"You have a laptop, you can do it here." He snapped. Why did she want to leave, they rarely had any time together and here she was leaving... early._

_"I have a paper due. I have to leave." She rose from her seat stiffly and put her cup into the sink. _

_"What difference does it make if you write it here or you write it there?" Troy spoke loudly, why was she giving him some half ass reason?_

_"I just-- I have to go." She rushed past him, walking out of the kitchen. He heard her opening the front closet looking for her coat. He ran after her. _

_She was grabbing her bags, her hand on the doorknob. He swiftly pulled her bags from her hands and watched as she span around, fresh tears falling from her eyes. _

_"Troy. Give me my bags." She said quietly._

_"Not till you tell me why you are leaving." He said sternly._

_"I SAID I HAVE A PAPER TO WRITE." _

_"BULLSHIT GABI!" He threw her bags to the floor, and held her arms tight against her sides._

_She began to sob, "I have to go Troy." He heard between sobs. Her crying became worst, she slid against the front door curling her knees into her chest. "I can't do this anymore." She whispered once her breathing had begun to become even once again and her tears had slowed down._

_"What?" He whispered, as if scared of what he had heard her say. _

_"I said I can't do it anymore." She pulled herself up, her brown eyes meeting his._

_"Do what?" He spoke quickly, he knew what. He just didn't want to admit it._

_"This. Us." She said quietly, he watched her begin to shake as new tears began to form. She grabbed a hold of one of his hands. "I love you. But, I... it's not working. I can't handle seeing you for five seconds then having to say goodbye all over again. I hardly talk to you anymore, and if we do talk it's for a minute, while one of is walking to another class. You don't know what's going on in my life anymore, and I don't know what's happening in yours. You talk about these people in your class, and majority of the time I have no idea who you're talking about. My dreams and aspirations are changing and so are yours, I'm making a life for myself out there in New York, and you're making one here in Albuquerque. And once the both of us have jobs, careers, do you know how difficult it'll be to be together then? When we have stable jobs in different parts of the country? I miss you all the time, and I can't function properly anymore. I just... it's too much. I can't do it." She said softly, each sentence ending with a sob. She was breaking his heart, she could see it in his eyes, and she couldn't do anything about it. No matter how badly they wanted this relationship to work, it wasn't working. Waiting for his response, she felt him slowly prying his hand out of her own._

_"So you're giving up on us." He stated, his broken heart shielded with a rude and cold hearted attitude._

_"No. I'm---"_

_"That's exactly what you're doing." He spoke evenly, his eyes never once breaking contact with hers._

_"I still want to talk to you, I still want you in my life. We... someday." She spoke softly, scared of his reaction._

_"You still want to be 'friends'?" He spat the word friends, as if there were acid on his tongue._

_"Yes." _

_"You think we can be friends after this? After you just give up on us? I LOVE YOU AND YOU JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS?" _

_"I should go." Gabriella walked swiftly towards her forgotten bags on the floor. And made her way back to the front door opening it quickly she was half way out before Troy spoke._

_"Goodbye Gabi. I hope you're happy." Troy spoke with a coldness she had never seen in him before. Letting another tear drop down her cheek, she met his eyes one last time and spoke quietly. "Goodbye Troy. I love you." And she walked out of his life, and he didn't run after her._

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Things had gotten considerably better since that fateful day in Albuquerque. They had bumped into one another at a homecoming party the Evan's had thrown a few months after, the beginning of summer break and they were able to be civil to one another. Saying a quick and awkward hi to one another, then an equally quick and awkward bye at the end of the night. The day after, Troy left for a coaching internship in Chicago, destroying any chance of them running into one another before Gabriella went back to New York. Then, there was the Christmas break senior year of college. The Montez and Bolton families thought it would be an inspiring idea to have Christmas dinner together. Dinner was quiet, and Gabriella and Troy were forced to wash dishes together. Small talk was made, and their hands briefly touched under the bubbly water, shooting still existent sparks through both their bodies. Eye contact was made, then the doorbell rang. Gabriella's cab to the airport had arrived. And that was the last time they saw one another.

Four years later at the age of 25, Gabriella Montez sat quietly at a local bakeshop in a seat right across from the cake displays, a slice of coffee cake and the day's newspaper were laid out in front of her. She had finally been able to take a break from the piles and piles of research she had been doing less than 15 minutes ago, assisting a university professor with his research at the time had sounded like the perfect opportunity especially with the large amount of money he and the university were offering her. But, she wanted to get on with her life, do something new, she wanted to find a job that used the degree she had earned to its worth.

Sighing she ran a hand through her long brown curls, and straightened out her newspaper before taking a sip of her coffee. Suddenly something tapped her toe softly, startled she swept the newspaper off the table and looked down at her feet, only to find a silver cell phone sitting next to her left foot. Reaching down she picked up the phone, lifting her head she searched around for it's possible owner when a petite blonde woman in a light cardigan and jeans approached her.

"God, I'm so sorry. I don't know how many times I've dropped my phone today." The woman's cheeks were flushed slightly, she stuck her palm out and Gabriella placed the phone into her hand giving the woman a smile.

"Don't worry, it happens to me all the time." Gabriella chuckled. The woman started to walk back to the cake displays before she turned back around quickly.

"This might be a really stupid question but..." The woman shook her head in disbelief. "Those are the cutest black peep-toe pumps I've ever seen. Where did you get them? I've been looking for a decent pair for... forever actually." She laughed as she brushed a stray hair from her face.

Gabriella laughed and took a quick glance at her shoes. "I... well there's actually this shoe store just south of here, it's on the corner right before the lights. And I'm sure they still have them, I just bought them yesterday."

"Serious?" The woman asked.

"Dead serious." Gabriella said, a large smile spreading onto her face.

"Thank you so much..."

"Gabriella."

"That's a beautiful name, it's not as common as mine. Everyone's name is Nicole." Nicole extended her right hand, and the two women shook hands politely. "Well I better get back over there before my boyfriend thinks I've been kidnapped."

"It was nice meeting you Nicole." Gabriella smiled warmly, and picked up the newspaper off the floor. Gabriella briefly lifted her eyes from the newspaper to check the time. Deciding that it was probably a good time to get home she stood and straightened out her black pencil skirt and threw on her large beige cardigan. Folding the newspaper neatly she packed it into her purse and took a final sip from her coffee. Walking towards the exit she heard a woman's voice. "BYE GABRIELLA! THANKS!" Gabriella turned her head to see Nicole waving happily from the table located not too far from where she was standing. "No problem!" Gabriella called back and before she could push open the door, the young man sitting across from Nicole who Gabriella assumed to be her boyfriend turned his head around to look at her, his blue eyes meeting hers in surprise.

"Troy." She whispered to herself, her eyes not straying from his deep blue ones. She felt her face heat up and she quickly pushed the door open and walked out into the warm summer air, and she walked as fast as her black peep-toe pumps could carry her, tears building up in her eyes with each step she took.

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**A/N: **Obviously, this isn't how it ends. Unless I was super cruel I'd end it like this. It is a three shot. The second part is done, but I'm not totally satisfied with it. Actually I don't think I'll ever be totally satisfied with any of my work. LOL, ANYWAYS. Review and read, or whatever, hahah either way it'll be much appreciated. The second part will probably be up tomorrow!


	2. Chapter 2

_"It's been a long year  
Since we last spoke  
How's your halo?  
Just between you and I  
You and me and the satellites  
I never believed you"  
- Strays Don't Sleep, "For Blue Skies"_

Tuesday afternoons were usually uneventful for Gabriella but, for some reason she couldn't shake the feeling that this Tuesday would be different. It had been three weeks since that unforgettable evening in the very same bakeshop she was seated in now. She had got home that evening and had buried herself in the countless number of books and work she had to do, and till now work and books became her hide away. She tapped away on her laptop, it was her day off and her apartment was feeling more stuffy than usual and she had needed a new environment to help her start her newest research paper. _Oh joy._ Gabriella thought to herself, rolling her eyes at her laptop screen. Typing out a few sentences, she read them over and dejectedly deleted them. Groaning softly she let her head rest against the hardwood table and closed her eyes.

"You know... with your eyes closed like that anyone can walk away with this pretty decent laptop you've got here."

Gabriella eyes snapped open only to see the dark mahogany in front of her, panic settling into her body she knew she couldn't ignore him. She could recognize that voice anywhere. Deciding that playing dead would definitely not work, she lifted her head up and quickly brushed a hand through her hair.

"You look beautiful Gabi, quit messing with your hair." Troy spoke softly, he set his dark green coat and messenger bag on the back of a chair, then took his seat across from Gabriella.

And now that he was seated directly in front of her she couldn't bolt. Their eyes were locked, and her backside was stuck to her chair. "I... um... Hi."

Troy chuckled at her nervousness, "How've you been?"

"I...Good." Gabriella instantly wished she could curl up in a hole and die. Here he was, the man she's always been in love with and all she could come up with were one word answers.

"Gabriella... calm down. I'm not gonna hack you to death." Troy said, he was biting his lip to keep himself from laughing.

"Oh, God I'm so sorry. I just, you just... you came out of nowhere! And you just appeared, and I didn't expect you. And I haven't seen you in forever." She paused to watch his grin grow wider. "And now I can't stop talking." Gabriella began to chuckle as she pressed her palm against her forehead.

"Sorry." She breathed as she smiled at him, his bright smile causing her own to grow.

Suddenly Gabriella's hand that had been resting on the table was covered with Troy's own. "First, you gotta stop saying sorry." Retracting his hand from hers he continued, "And second, I've been trying to run into you for the past three weeks, and now that I've finally caught you... there's a meeting I've got to get to." He sighed.

"You've what?"

"After I saw you a few weeks ago I've been coming here frequently to try and bump into you. I haven't seen you in four years Gabi, I had to at least come and talk to you." He spoke sincerely, blushing slightly.

"Of course." Gabriella sighed, she kicked herself mentally. How could she possibly think that they could rehash things? He wasn't looking for her so they could start fresh!

Checking his watch, Troy paused for a moment as if thinking about what to do next. Unexpectedly he pulled a pen from his shirt pocket and began to scribble furiously on a napkin. He then folded it and slid it underneath Gabriella's hand. "I've got to go. But, there's my address and phone number. I don't live too far from here, so we should you know... have coffee sometime or something." He fumbled softly with his words. "You know as ... friends." She had almost been unable to hear the last bit, but she heard it. And it broke her heart to pieces. _It's your fault Gabriella, so shut the hell up._

Gabriella nodded enthusiastically, hoping that her smile would distract him from the near tears forming in her eyes. Standing up swiftly Troy grabbed his messenger bag and swung it over his shoulder before walking over to Gabriella's side of the table and giving her a tight hug. "Don't be a stranger." He whispered into her ear, making her melt like she was a teenager all over again. Shooting her one last smile, Gabriella waved and watched him walk quickly out the door.

And for three and a half minutes straight Gabriella stared at the glass door wishing he'd come walking back in, pull her out of her seat, wrap his arms around her and kiss her passionately as if out of some cheesy romance novel. Finally shaking herself from her reverie she started to pack up her things, the silence of not having Troy to talk to making it impossible to think straight. Gabriella stood up and did a final sweep over to make sure she hadn't forgot something when she noticed the napkin on the floor. Picking it up she smiled softly and opened it. It's contents surprising her almost bringing tears to her eyes once again. Looking down at his boyish scrawl, his number and address were listed like he had said. But, underneath his address he had drawn a daisy. A simple and small daisy in blue ink. Folding the napkin she placed it into her jean pocket and sighed. _Why'd he have to draw that damn daisy for?_ Turning quickly for the door she nearly knocked over the chair Troy had been sitting on, only to find Troy's dark green jacket.

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Troy's jacket laid on top of her coffee table as she sat on her couch staring intently at it. Should she call him? No, then he'd want to come over and pick it up. Should she just keep it? No! Then once he discovered it was missing he'd think she was some freaky ex-girlfriend who kept his stuff and kept it on display at the back of her closet. Groaning she let her face rest in her hands and glared at the jacket. "Stupid Troy." She muttered to herself. Should she just drop it off at his house? Yes, she could. She could knock on his door, Nicole would probably answer, she'd hand her the jacket and leave. If they asked her to come in she'd say she had a hot date to get to. Seeing as it was already 7:00, she figured Troy would be home from his meeting, and she found that he didn't live too far from her. Quickly, Gabriella threw on a pair of jeans, freeing her hair from its hair tie she grabbed her own coat and Troy's coat. Shoving her cell phone in her pocket she slipped on a pair of flats and was out the door.

Gabriella fiddled nervously with the keys in her jacket pocket, she had just knocked on the door and was waiting for a reply. Maybe no one was home? Maybe they were out on a romantic date filled with soft music, wine and candles? Maybe they were having sex, and hadn't heard her knocking. _Shut up Gabriella!_ Squeezing her eyes shut Gabriella couldn't help the many questions running through her mind, and she couldn't control the speed they were going at. Then the door opened. There stood Troy in a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt. God, he looked wonderful.

Obviously surprised by her presence he stood back and gestured for her to come in. She had completely forgot that she had a 'hot date' to get to. Smiling up at him she walked in and let her eyes wander and take a look around the place.

"Done checking out my place?" Troy asked.

She spun around quickly and remembered why she had come in the first place. "You left this at the bakeshop." She held it out to him, and he took it from her graciously.

"Thanks..."

"Well, I guess I should go--"

"You want something to drink?"

One drink wouldn't hurt. Gabriella nodded and tried not to look too eager. She took off her jacket and let it rest on a nearby leather couch. "So where's Nicole?" Gabriella spoke as she followed him into the kitchen.

"She's on a business trip. She'll be back tomorrow at noon. But we haven't moved in together or anything, so I guess I'll be seeing her tomorrow night." Troy's eyes met hers, "Wine or coffee?"

"Wine." She would definitely need alcohol in her system if she was going to be able to talk to Troy without bursting into tears.

Smirking Troy handed her a tall glass filled with red wine. Taking his own glass he raised it up proposing a toast. "To daisies." He whispered. Clinking their glasses together Gabriella quickly began to drink her wine, watching Troy over the rim of her glass.

Two and a half hours later, halfway through a mixed CD on Troy's stereo and surprisingly no refills on the wine Gabriella and Troy laid laughing, and smiling across the same leather couch. Their legs overlapping one anothers in the middle as Troy was seated at the one end of the couch, Gabriella on the other.

"I can't believe we haven't talked for four years." Troy spoke in disbelief, he shook his bangs away from his eyes, the deep blue of them contrasting against Gabriella's brown ones.

"But, at least we're catching up." Gabriella replied hopefully. And silence encased them. The air in the room was filled with unspoken words, unresolved issues, unanswered questions and unspoken ones as well. Then the song changed. A slow, mellow song that seemed to fit the moment perfectly and Troy stood from his comfortable spot on the couch.

"Dance with me." He spoke softly.

Hesitantly she gave Troy her hand and allowed him to pull her gently off the couch. And they easily fell into a position, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, her head nestled against his chest and his chin resting on top of her head, and her hands met around his neck. There was no fussing of where hands should be, how close they should be or and there was no staring of one another's feet. They danced softly, swaying side to side, their bodies pressing against one another's softly as heat formed between them. Gabriella lifted her head to look at Troy and their eyes met softly. She watched him as he seemed to look from her eyes to her cheeks and then to all over her face. She felt as his arms began to slowly stroke up and down her lower back causing her to shiver involuntarily. He pulled them closer together, if that were possible and then something in his eyes changed. They no longer moved to look at all of her, but stayed motionless and locked with her own and she felt her breath hitch as she recognize that look. After all these years she still recognized the look on his face, the look he had when he had made a decision, a final decision he would never go back on. It was the same look she had seen the first time he'd given her a daisy. The look he had given her the first time he had confessed he loved her. And with one last look in his eyes she closed her own and gave in, and their lips met in a searing and passionate kiss.

The kiss had seemed to ignite the both of them, like a loud noise causing an avalanche. Kiss after kiss, the two began to kiss one another so fervently that Gabriella could hardly breathe. She wanted to be with him so bad, but this was wrong. He had Nicole, she was a thing of the past, or so she thought.

"Troy." She sighed as he pulled away briefly, he ignored her and allowed their lips to meet once again.

She felt him leading her down a hallway away from the living room.

"Troy." This time she pushed him lightly.

"I know." He whispered hurriedly, he kissed her again, this time one of his hands to reached up underneath her shirt.

Gabriella moaned, and tried desperately to keep her mind straight. "This will only make things har--" She was interrupted by another kiss, this time allowing Troy's tongue to brush upon her bottom lip.

"I know." He groaned, he moved down to her neck, as her hands wandered into his hair.

"We... How about Nic--"

"I know Gabi." He kissed her again, and then pulled away to meet her eyes in a hard stare. She swallowed as she looked at him, he wanted this as bad as her. And for once she didn't care, and she didn't want to run and hide in her work. She wanted something that she's wanted and needed for so long. And she was gonna take it, even though they both knew this would not end well.

"Okay." She whispered, she nodded and smiled. He smiled too, and kissed her nose lightly. He then lifted her up and let her wrap her legs around his waist, tickling her softly and covering her face in light kisses he walked them to his bedroom. God, how he'd missed her.

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It was 3 am, Troy stood in the doorway of his bedroom dressed in nothing but his boxers and a cup of coffee in one hand. He watched in silence as Gabriella laid asleep on his bed, the thin bedsheets pulled up only to her waist, her arms holding on softly to a pillow. The moonlight casted upon her skin made it seem like she was just a dream, like what had happened for hours and hours had been a dream, that if he closed his eyes she wouldn't be there, that this night never happened. Sighing he ran a hand through his hair and set his coffee cup down on his dresser and took a seat against the headboard of his bed, next to Gabriella. Smiling softly at her he pulled the bed sheets up to cover her body, then kissed her shoulder softly. "I love you." He whispered gently. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to fall asleep and before he did he felt Gabriella take one of his hands and encase it with her own.

11:54 am. His digital clock displayed to him in a haunting bright red. Sitting up he realized that he could no longer feel Gabriella sleeping soundly next to him. In a panic he stood up and searched his room, her clothes were gone. He ran to his doorway and stopped briefly as he noticed his coffee cup was no longer on his dresser. Running into the living room, her coat was no longer lying on the couch, her shoes weren't at the door. She had left. But, what had he expected? They both knew he had someone in his life now, they both knew that what they had was something of the past. And although he knew this, he couldn't help but stare emptily at the two empty wine glasses sitting on his coffee table.

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8:43 pm. Gabriella sat on her living room floor, the phone sitting in its bench blinked as it held a voice mail or two, she assumed Troy was the cause of the 8 missed calls. He must've gotten her number out of the phone book. Sighing she gave in and checked her voice mail.

_"Gabriella? I... I don't exactly know how you know Troy. Umm... But this is Nicole. You were the last call on Troy's cell phone, I thought I should let you know he's in the hospital..."_

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**A/N: **"OMG YOU KILLED TROY" No... I did not. Sorry if I ruined it, lol. Nope he's not dead. But, I'll leave it at that. Sorry about my lying, I know I said I'd update the next day... but something unexpected happened & threw me off. Waaay off... and I couldn't focus. The next & final part will be up this week... Read & Review!


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